The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 2 - NFC predictions

Episode Date: March 13, 2025

Game changers in the NFL draft Colin gives his predictions for the NFC next season The cause of the huge gap in MLB   Guest: Geoff Schwartz  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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There we go. Live in Los Angeles. Hour number two, it is the herd on a Thursday, J-Mack. I have been very excited. So I wait, J-Mack, I wait until all the coaching hires are done. The staffs are filled. I wait until all the free agency of note is done. We still have Aaron Rogers.

But by the way, Russell Wilson, Kirk Couss, Aaron Rogers, are not changing my opinion. Aaron to the Steelers, Russell to the Steelers is probably a game. I mean, I don't think it's that big of a difference. I also think there's only one college player that will translate to big wins, which is Cam Ward if he goes to Tennessee. That's a different ball game. He's going to win games. This is not a draft where you're going to change outcomes.

You can get better in union. I mean, Travis Hunter to New England is worth half a win if he's a dynamic player. But Cam Ward's going to win you games. But nobody thought Bo Nix was going to take the Bronzer. Broncos to the playoffs. Like, Shadur Sanders could have a big impact in the right situation. Maybe, but the Giants don't have a formidable... We don't think Shadour is Jaden.

He doesn't move like him, so... What about Shadour in Cleveland? I don't think you... Is that 7-8-9 wins? No, I think... With Stifansky? I'd say 7. Maybe, you know...

Did anybody have Darnold and the Vikings winning... I'm not saying there's not surprises, but I'm just saying, on average, I think Cam Ward is the one guy in the draft that can change outcomes. Could take four losses to three wins. From Will Levis to Cam Ward, it's not like you're going from, you know, Peyton Manning's last year to Andrew Luck, both great. You're going from one of the worst to nobody's got NFL film on Cam Ward.

You're just guessing. And I think that's where rookie quarterbacks, like Bo Necks ran more at Denver than Oregon. Like you watched them and you're like, I mean, I watched him twice live. I'm like, I didn't feel like he ran as much at Oregon as he did with Denver. So you're kind of guessing at some point with rookie quarterbacks. So here we go. I'm going to start today and FC. Tomorrow, AFC.

Now, you've got to have four minimum total. Down to the end. A lot of free agent losses for the Eagles. They still have the deepest roster. I'll pick them over the commanders. But I think the commanders, Laramie Tunsell, Debo, Samuel is a win now acquisition. They kept guys like Zach Ertz. So I think that's a very close competition.

take the better roster to win. Dallas third, not active in free agency, still got to pay Micah up against the cap. Dak Prescott off a second lower body injury. Giants, it doesn't matter if Aaron goes there, Russell Wilson goes there. I think there's going to be so much pressure on the organization to win now. I'll pick the Giants for fourth. NFC North. This is the toughest division for me in football. The Lions have the best roster. I'll pick them one. The Vikings have the worst roster. I'll pick them four. But, and yes, Chicago's got a tough road schedule. No question. But they literally went and got pro bowlers on their interior line. And again, if they can get a running back with their first pick, the coaching upgrade at Chicago, from what they were to what they are,

is going to be like the quarterback upgrade from Will Levis to Cam Ward. Like, it's going to change outcomes. I have Chicago second. Here's Green Bay's tough for me. Because I've got to be totally honest about this. I really fell for Jordan Love. But last year against playoff teams, dude completed 60% of his throws with a passer rating at 81 and was 2 and 6.

In the building, at the end of the year, I watched the way they coached him. I think they lost some confidence in him. So I think Bears Packers is down to the final week of the year to figure out who gets into the playoffs. NFC South, I believe in Michael Penix. I don't like him not having Grady Jared. But I, and I don't like him losing Drew Dalman the center. The bucks are getting old. They're bringing back the entire offense.

Sometimes that's good. Sometimes it's not. I like the trajectory of Atlanta, and I'm a big Michael Pennix fan. Carolina will be better, but an average roster. Saints up against the cap. Kind of rigid there. I just don't like their direction. NFC West.

So I have the Rams winning it. I have no problem with that. Devonte Adams, one of the smartest acquisitions. That will work. Their defense could be the best in the league this year if they can get a corner in the draft somewhere. Great coaching. Okay, Seahawks Niners, I would love to watch the draft.

Niners have 12 picks. Seattle's got to upgrade on the offensive line. But if you look at Seattle's schedule, Woo-wee! NFC South, AFC South, that Seahawks schedule is screaming 10-11 wins. Niners, meanwhile,

12 draft picks with a very complicated offensive system means I think they could be kind of trying to figure out what the heck they are until Thanksgiving. That is a lot of new players on the roster, and they lost really good players. Seahawks Niners, like Bears Packers, I think, play down to the final weekend to see who gets into the playoff.

playoffs. Arizona, no massive upgrades, are what they are. So, my division winners, Eagles, Lions, Falcons, Rams, Falcons are a new playoff team. Wild card commanders, bears, Seahawks, both squeak in. So I have three new playoff teams, the Falcons, the Bears, and the Seahawks. You've got to have four new ones every year minimum, closer to six. So I don't think, you know, listen, Atlanta before Kirk Cousins fell apart, they beat Tampa twice. I don't think I've taken a big swing here. I like panics a lot. There you go.

Let's bring in Jeff Schwartz, played in the NFL, eight years. Dominant lineman, three-year-starter, right-tackle, Oregon. So give you something you like about that and something you strongly disagree with, Jeff. Who's going to protect Sam Darnold? That's my question in Seattle, right? Where last year with the Vikings, he had everything. Offensive line, not some issues in the middle, but good tackles. He had great wide receivers, good tight end, good running back, good play caller.

Now in Seattle, offensive line in question, one wide receiver right now. I just think we're high on Donald because we like the story last year. I just don't know if he's going to play very well in Seattle. Another thing is I think the Panthers are going to be good. They showed him the end of last season they're close, right? You sort of have to lose close games before we start winning close games. That happened a lot at the end of the season. I like their acquisitions.

The South is just mad, right? It's a good division, not great. So the Panthers, I think, can contend for a wild card spot. But I do like Michael Pennex with Atlanta. He's a good football player. I saw that up front for many years, watching that Oregon-Washington rivalry. They're going to be better than people think because I think Pennix will inject some life into that offense.

All right, Jeff Schwartz, offensive line eight years, all-packed 12 when he was at Oregon. I want to talk to D'Or Sanders. So my take is, Cam Ward's a better talent. I like Shadour, he has something in common with Brock Purdy. No offensive line of note in college. Maybe one great skill person, Travis Hunter, or I think Brees Hall was like with Brock Purdy, if I recall. But my takeaway is there is value for Josh Allen, Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Jared Gough, Shadur Sanders, Brock Purdy, not being surrounded with all Americans and five-star players.

For that reason, I like Soudure. He got beat up, played from behind, no run game. I like him. Do you? I like him. I mean, look, you're right about the grit. He got beat up for two years. And every time he got hit, he got back up, got back in the huddle, and kept playing.

You're right. No run game. It wasn't much to support offensively. The offensive structure, not great there, right? And there's intangibles there. He's accurate. He's good in the pocket. I mentioned the grit already, right?

Now, the question is, holding the ball too long. and taking those sacks, those translate to the NFL. So let's put them in a better offense. Let's start with that. The offense he'll play in the NFL will be better. The color offense was a wreck. Formationally, it was boring. They didn't have to throw the ball downfield very much.

So if you put them in a pro offense, on a better offensive line, those things, the accuracy, the toughness, the pocket mobility, those should shine. The questions, I think, again, is he gonna be like Caleb Williams, who held the ball bunch in college in USC, got sacked a bunch in college,

and then we saw last season, didn't play behind a great offense line, I get that. Scheme issues in Chicago as well, but sacked a lot and held on to the ball a little bit too much. So can you get that out of Schinders game with a better team, a better offense, and better things around him? Okay, let's go to a teammate Travis Hunter. Urban Meyer says never quite seen anything like it generationally. I'd let him play both sides. You three-year starter in college, played in the NFL. Do you think players will buy into let the kids start at corner and wide receiver? I think it's too much, Colin. Travis Hunter's incredible.

I didn't really buy the argument that he shouldn't get the Heisman. That was kind of interesting to me. If you watch him play, I mean, incredible athlete gets a ball every time you see right here on the screen like catch the ball gone. Number one corner two, he's incredible. The question is this is, you know, you have basically two playbooks, right? You have a defensive playbook that's this big and they're on their iPads now. It's a little bit different, but an offensive playbook this big, how do you do both at the

same time, right? You practice one day with wide receivers and one day with the corners. I think it's easier to be a full-time corner and then say, hey, Travis, here is 10 plays on offense. Can you run them on Friday at practice or maybe you stay after for five, 10 minutes on Thursday? We have this package of plays for you, which is really at Colorado. He didn't move a lot on offense calling. He kind of stayed on one side of the ball. He ran a couple of things.

He wasn't a guy that did a ton on offense. He's just not good. And when he got the ball in his hands, it was incredible. So that's how I would play it. I would say, look, you're a corner. and then we'll give you 10, 15 prize in offense. You'll have to spend a lot of time in that offensive meeting room because you have to get ready to play corner in the NFL.

So in your years in the NFL, we talk about free agency. And I think free agency, like for instance, I like what the Bears did, but offensive line is a chemistry unit position. So it's going to take a while. And by the way, Joe Tuny's not going to take a lot of preseason snaps. Drew Dolman's not going to take a lot of preseason snaps. So the combination of offensive line is a cohesion unit. That takes time.

And the fact that nobody play old old linemen are not going to – they just don't play those guys on the O line. So I think the Bears could be really good. Is it possible, though, that the Bears are going to take until Thanksgiving to get that O line right? It's not just that calling. It takes eight to ten weeks, maybe a little bit longer, for a new coordinator to instill, you know, basically the offensive defense of what they want their team to be. I think a great example last year is Vic Fangio in Philly, right? First couple of weeks, first six weeks, eight weeks.

It was like, what's this defense? All of a sudden, they figure things out, and boom, they were as good as they were, obviously, the rest of the season. On the offensive side of the ball, the same thing is true, right? You're going to figure out what you're good at. You might go into seasons, hey, I've always run outside zone. Let's try outside zone. Then boom, week A, it's like, that's not really good. Let's run something else.

So it just takes time. You need to be able to work your protections around every different look you might see. You might see it once a game. And so by the week 8, 9, 10, you know what you're good at, you know what you're bad at, and you grow together, and then by your point, by Thanksgiving, you start feeling better about your offense. The bear's goal this year is very simple, right? Is you need to end this season knowing Caleb Williams is your franchise quarterback. Yes. And that includes growth from quarter to quarter, right?

Like in week eight, he should look better than week four. In week 12, we should look better than week eight. And so that's the goal this season, is to build, and they have done that so far, an offense aligned around him, wide receivers around him, to make sure the end of the season, he's your bone. If he's not, then they'll find someone else. So that's the goal this year, and it might take a little bit of time to see that with all the new parts. So what I said, I would have torn down the Niners last year. I thought they waited too long.

I also thought they were a little too permissive on contracts, whereas the Rams would go to Stafford and say, this is the number, deal with it. They were a little ice cream for breakfast dad for the last several years in negotiation, and it caught him. Given Debo and Brandon Iyuk big money, I wouldn't have done it. I said this. I think I have to watch their draft. But 12 draft picks, Jeff is a lot. And the NFL is highly complicated.

One of the reasons I like Seattle is that they're going to bring back outside of the receivers, mostly the same guys, with the injection of maybe three starters. San Francisco let go of so many good players. They need six guys to play a lot that are like young kids. Tell me when you were in the NFL. You were a three-year starter in college. Smart guys. You move in. But 12 new players, that's what worries me about the rebuild. Like, it is sudden. Well, I think part of the problem, Colin, and you mentioned it, they need a lot of guys because they've actually missed on the draft the last three or four years.

Go look at their draft picks. Not a lot of guys starting for them right now, or not a lot of guys impactful football players now. Some of those draft picks are trade away for Trey Lance, which obviously is a problem. You love to have those picks back. I think someone for the Trent Williams deal as well. They just haven't drafted well for three or four years. They're a very top-heavy team. and when the top is gone and they've lost some of those guys,

you look at the rest of the team and where are those guys at? Where's the next crop of players to take over for the veterans? What the best teams do. So, yeah, they might have 12 draft picks, but the last three or four years, they haven't proven to hit on those draft picks. And so I've got to see that this season. You know, the influx of guys obviously is great.

You need that at some point. But you need those young guys to become superstars, to become the core of your team. Right now, if you're a Niner fan, list it off. Who is the core of your team on a rookie contract? contract right now. Brock Purdy, give me those guys. You don't have enough of those guys. So, yeah, it's great to have draft picks, but they got to start hitting on these guys. Yeah. You know, it's, I was saying this earlier that just, we all know, everybody, when you go to a doctor,

I've been to 10 doctors in my life. Three or four great, three or four okay, and a couple aren't good. When you step on a plane, most of the pilots are very capable. Sully Sullenberger's more than capable. There are a lot of average pilots out there. And in the NFL, you forget that some of these coordinators are great and a lot of them aren't. So I said, Philadelphia is a great

example. Great coordinators both leave, hire two new ones, did not work. I feel like, but they got it right the next time. Detroit's fascinating to me. They lose Ben Johnson. What are the chances your next coordinators as good as Ben Johnson? They lose Aaron Glenn.

One of the chances your next coordinator is as good as Aaron Glenn. Tell the audience in your years in the NFL, did you know immediately if your team missed on a position or coordinator? Did you know immediately? Well, I think you don't know until you play games. Now, there are certain times I play with coaches that I thought immediately like this guy doesn't know what he's doing. And you typically end up maybe being right. But that's also when you're an older player, right? You've been around enough coaches.

You know what they feel like. But I think it's worth giving them the benefit. I just mentioned with the Bears, it takes 8 to 10 to 12 weeks to feel good. It would be, you know, I think it would be wrong to just go into a season thinking your coordinator is not good. But I've certainly played with coordinator as I didn't think were good and ended up being right about it. But look, it's not our job to complain about that, right? Our jobs go play on Sunday. So even if we didn't trust the guy or we didn't think the play calls were good, you got to go out and execute.

And obviously, it shows and wins and losses, you know, the end of the season, whether or not that worked out. But you can tell early on whether guys are cut out for it, but it's more than just like calling plays, right? It's the leadership, it's communication, it's making adjustments. And the best coordinators, what they do now, this is better than ever before, in my opinion, in the NFL, is they tailor their scheme what they're good at as coaches to what the players are good at, right?

And you can feel that early. Is a coach willing to maybe do something different, something out of their comfort zone, to make the players play better? Now, you can feel early on. Now, again, coaches have the ability to adapt and change We're just playing examples of that happening. But you can sort of feel those things early, right?

Communication, adjustments, willingness to work with players on certain things. Maybe you bring in a free agent that doesn't quite do what you do, but you paid him anyways, and he's got to be able to perform. Are you willing to adapt what you do, change what you do? Not your core principles exactly, but just maybe change enough to make that veteran player happy and play well. So those are things players can pick up pretty early. One more college question. I want to go back.

Cam Ward to me is the one guy. in the draft that will change outcomes. And I think about this all the time. It's not just that he's talented, but Tennessee right now is kind of untalented at quarterback. So the difference, the swing could be like seven points, eight points

from what you are to what you could be. Because I think Cam's a field goal difference because he's so spectacular. Nobody has NFL film on him. It's a weak division. You're kind of guessing until Thanksgiving. I think Cam Ward is the one player in this draft.

that could change outcomes. I think Tennessee is actually going to be one of the surprise teams. You watch, you watch them a ton. At Washington State, you watched him. You watched him at Miami. What do you make of him as a prospect? Well, I think you're right about the supreme talent he's got. You see that all over the field.

He has a better arm than Sanders. He can run the ball really well, as we know, as you see right here. You should have to take those bad decisions out of his game. You know, the Cal game you showed. he just had an atrocious interception middle of second quarter like those have got to go so if you can get him

to just be able to play within himself and use his physical traits I want to bring up something too that I think is important here he has not played a lot of quarterback in sort of a quote unquote pro style right so he didn't play

he didn't throw the ball in high school he goes to incarnate word plays at run and shoot and they actually play like two seasons in one calendar year because of COVID goes to Washington State plays in a run and shoot again And he goes to Miami and plays really his first time in what would be more of a normal offense, right, Colin? So he hasn't really had a lot of quarterback reps in what would simulate what he might see in the NFL.

So there's a lot of rawness to his game that a coach can mold because he's very talented. He's got a great arm. Just can you avoid those negative plays, right? Can you avoid, you know, just take what's there. Take the seven-yard throw. Take the eight-yard throw. If there's pressure, can you see it? Can you get rid of the ball?

So physically it's all there. It's a matter of harnessing and taking maybe. taking away the bad plays to highlight the good plays. Jeff Schwartz. He's on First Things First as well today. As always, he knows, man, nobody watches more college football, and it should be noted bets on it than Jeff Schwartz. Good seeing you, buddy.

Take care. Thank you. All right. Tomorrow, by the way, I've got my AFC picks tomorrow. Got a couple of new playoff teams, Jay Mack. You'll be excited for that. You guys do not like Seattle. Anyone green in the AFC for tomorrow? Going on the playoffs?

A green team, perhaps? A green team? A team that wears green jerseys. And the AFC? Yeah. That one of us roots for. Oh, oh. Gosh.

Hey, we need to get some magnesium on the set, please. That'd put me to sleep, buddy. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand. whenever you'd like. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news.

What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there.

But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. And, well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this.

We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, for people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an

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I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jenchian won. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface.

Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. A lot of people pushing back on my Chicago Bear and Seattle Seahawk optimism. I will say it again, you have to find four teams minimum that made the playoffs. Didn't make it last year that do this year. Well, the AFC is a much more predictable conference because you have more great quarterbacks.

So your changes are going to come in the NFC. That's why last year everybody had a much harder time predicting the NFC than the AFC. Josh Allen's going to make the playoffs. Mahomes is going to make the playoffs. Lamar Jackson's going to make the playoffs. C.J. Stroud's probably going to make the playoffs. Outside of Philadelphia, you're sure about anything. I mean, you say what you want about Detroit. Say what you want about Detroit.

Penae Sewell goes down, golf doesn't have protection. I'm saying, you have to have a majority of your changes in the NFC. How many years in a row? Lamar, Josh Mahomes, and by the way, now that Herbert has Jim Harbaugh, he's probably going to make the playoffs five of the next six years. That's a pretty safe bet. By the way, Bo Nix and Denver, they're going to be good every year. C.J. Stroud, they're going to be good.

Doesn't mean they'll win the division, but they're going to be in the playoff race. So the AFC tomorrow, pretty standard. NFC, you better have three or four changes, you're not being realistic. So again, Eagles, Lions, Rams feel like the only obvious thing and the commanders making it either as a playoff, a wildcard team or division winner. But you got to have in the NFC, you better find new teams. So Atlanta, I think has, I think Benix has a chance to be the best quarterback in that division. and I think they've got nice weapons.

Her schedule's easy. Bears and Seahawks, do they have questions? Yes, but I think between the O-line improvement for the Bears and the coaching upgrade and it's year two, I think the Bears, again, I think it goes last weekend with Green Bay. In Seattle, I like Darnold, but the other thing is, look at the production. San Francisco loses, and then they have 12 draft picks, and they've been a pretty average draft. drafting team. Do you remember in, you know, middle school where the teacher would be like, Colin, you didn't show your work. I need to see how you got the answer. I'm going to deduct points. I need to see your work how you have Seattle ahead of San Francisco. San Francisco has

the better coaching staff, the better quarterback, well, the better offensive line. Like, San Francisco's better and almost Seattle's got the better general manager. Seattle. Former Fox guy, John Lynch, probably not happy. No, I mean, but Seattle, John Snyder has hit on a lot of quarterbacks. By the way, Darnold's contract is totally team friendly. Brock Purdy's probably won't be. Here's the other thing. Trent Williams hasn't played a full schedule. Go look.

It's got to be like eight years. Yes, fair. Okay, so all of a sudden, Brock Purdy missing his left tackle. Oh, by the way, the backup left tackle, Kansas City acquired him. So they have to hit on a left tackle in this draft, and it's not a great left tackle draft. Have you heard the chatter from the Niners fan bait? There are rumors that San Fran wants Tyler Warren.

the Penn State tight end because they want to go more heavy sets, two tight end, like what Buffalo pivoted to. Oh, so they're going to give up draft picks to get there. They got 12 of them. Well, I don't know that they, maybe Warren's there at 12. I don't know. But Kittle and Warren, two tight end sets similar to what Buffalo did going Knox and Kincaid. I would have no problem giving up six draft picks to get Warren because he's one of the only

seven guarantees in the draft. And you only hit on about 40, 50 percent of your picks anyway, and this is a weak draft. So to me, if I'm San Francisco, if I have to give up picks to get Warren, I would have I'm going to push back a little bit on Schneider over Lynch. Schneider historically, sure, but like last five years, you've been saying the Niners are the best roster in the league. That's put together by Lynch. Well, they acquired Trent Williams from another team, Christian McCaffrey from another

team. That's part of the GM work, drafting Brandon Ayuk. You know, like, come on. Brock Purdy, dead last pick in the draft. I like Seattle as a drafting operation. You like Seattle because you grew up there. Let's be real. That's not true.

Is that true, Ryan? You've been with me for years. Am I a Seahawks homer? Not a homer, but that's why you like them in this scenario. There's no way. I will guarantee you the Niners have at least two more wins on the win total than Seattle. It'll be like 10 versus 8. Oh, boy.

At least. Okay. All right. J-Mack with the news. No. No. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

Are we going out Friday? Let's start keeping some stuff confidential, okay? You don't need the masses know what's going on. I did get a whole pass for Friday, you know. Anyway, Matt Stafford is officially back with the Rams. Everybody's fired up. And then, of course, because everybody does it, he went on the New Heights podcast with the Kelsey Bros.

Stafford talked about how much longer he expects to play. I'm going to be here at least another year, hopefully some after that. We worked something out last year at the 11th hour to figure out right before training camp with the understanding that we're going to re-address it if I want to play again. Next year, Stafford called it a little nerve-wracking there for a little bit because he didn't know if he was going to stay with the Rams. And this could be round three next off-season. Well, it's what my understanding is they believe they have a Super Bowl roster. If they can get a corner, maybe upgrade, they upgraded it wide receiver.

So they feel good. They may go out and get a tight end. They need a corner. They need an inside linebacker. This is a Super Bowl roster with a couple of tweaks, mostly at corner. Top five roster in the league? Real close. I would say that defense is a top three roster, and it's young.

So if you noticed last year, second half of the season, the defense was better than the first half. So it's like Kansas City's defense, you knew it was good and rangy. And then all of a sudden you looked up and you're like, oh, that's the best defense in the league. problem is defense is a predictive year over year because it's so many. Like the Jets number went in the last year. Oh, great defense. And they got just embarrassed all season. Like, they were good.

It'll probably be a top half of the league, top 15, 16 defense. But let's just settle. All right. Let's go to the Niners, Colin. They have been letting a lot of key players go in free agency. That being said, one NFL analyst, we're not going to name him because this is, I thought this was crazy.

one NFL analyst believes it's time for San Francisco to entertain trading Christian McCaffrey. This guy clearly doesn't know how markets work. You don't sell low. Christian McCaffrey's coming off injuries, a terrible season. You don't trade him now. I don't understand this take, but Christian McCaffrey's still in his prime, still arguably the best. Well, the other thing is they don't win without Christian McCaffrey, not just Brock Purdy. Kyle Shannon doesn't win without it.

So what they should do is actually in the street. strongest running back draft in a decade is draft another running back so you can give McCaffrey 14 touches a game and not 22. Get Henderson from Ohio State. Yes. And by the way, I don't want to trade him at all. I love him. But you can't.

You have to give him a break. I am a believer now. Even with Sequin Barclay, Philadelphia, I go get in her back. I think we've moved into a two-back tier that you just have two running backs at your disposal. You can't rely. Adrian Peterson or Zika and his. prime. Look how fast Zeke aged. You become a workhorse. It just wears you at. Sequin, Barclay in New York got hurt several times. He was a workhorse. So we're now pro-load

management, are we? No, no, no. It's not load management. You play every game. The takeaway is, though, stop giving Christian McCaffrey 21 touches. Give him 16. That load management is, I have a headache. I'm not going to suit up. This is, I think, the running back position, because it's the last position you can hit from any angle and there's no flag. And I think defenders are stronger and faster and the hits are more violent, even with new regulations, is that you should have, I'm Philadelphia. One of the things I do, it's an insurance policy. I draft, in this draft, another running back because I want Sequin to play for the entirety of the contract,

and I don't want him carrying the ball as much as he did sometimes. Great topic, because yes, as a GM, you want that. You know what you want as a coach? I want to win friggin' games, so I keep my job. And if I'm only giving McCaffrey 16 touches in a 24-23 game, I might end up losing that. I don't want to cap on McCaffrey touches. I want more touches for the best running back, or second-best running back, whatever, in the league. So it's a tough situation to say that.

That's why this whole sit-out rest of game makes sense as opposed to let's limit touches. We're seeing Tibido unable to do this in the NBA. It's tough when you've got your stars and you're there to win games, Colin. Well, in the NBA, it is not a week-to-week league. Like the NFL, if you go, Dave Wanstad has a great line. You can lose games. You can't lose a locker room. If you lose a third straight game, even if you're Sean McDermott, you will lose.

There'll be guys in the locker room that start talking. In the NBA, the Celtics could have a bad road trip. Everybody gets. Jalen Brown's hurt. Poor Zingis has a weird, you know, everybody gets that. But in the NFL, it's a different, you can lose a locker room unless you're like maybe, I mean, like even Belichick. You know, I remember the Boston media, but take Philadelphia. They love Nick Seriani.

They wanted to run him out of town a year ago. Unless that. That's like October. I mean, we went into the playoffs thinking if they got one and done, but they fired it because he was so goofy. Yeah, I remember that. Final story, Colin, is Kirk Cousins. Remember, we've been on this. So he met with owner Arthur Blank last week to request a trade so he could be a start.

Since that meeting, Cousins and the Falcons, apparently, they're going to stay together. I don't, stay together for the kids, maybe? I don't know. This doesn't make any sense. He's due a $10 million bonus if he's on the roster soon. He's expected to have 27.5 million fully guaranteed money next season to be the backup. I think this is horrible mismanagement by the Falcons. their hope is, hey, if Joe Bob over here gets hurt on another team,

we trade Kirk Cousins and get a second round. Ask yourself, I don't, because I think they're going to move him by the trade deadline. So my take on this is Aaron Rogers is going to go somewhere, Russell's going to go somewhere, that's still going to leave a team or two without a quarterback, and you know and I know, somebody's going to get hurt in preseason. Some quarterback's going to get hurt in September. You just, Kirk Cousins will get purchased by somebody before the trade deadline. But the problem with the deadline is the Falcons have then paid to have somebody sitting on their bench.

And now you need another injury so you can recoup some kind of drafting. This is just horrible mismanagan. I thought you loved getting ought with. It's not working. Move on. Well, this isn't working. He's a backup. They get $27.5 million. Why don't you just move and dump him now?

It's dead money if you cut him. I don't want dead money. You can win with dead money. The Broncos won with dead money. Well, again, it's not ideal. If they weren't, they'd be a better money. roster. You just like...

Hey, Pennock starts Owen 2. I don't know, guys. Maybe he's not all that he was cracked up to me. We got 27-mill here on the bench. We've got cousins. Then you got controversy. Well, that's a very negative way to look at Michael Pennock. In that division, you're going to start Owen 2?

I haven't seen... The schedule is not out. It's Atlanta. They'll have an easy schedule. What else? Everybody in that division has an easy schedule. Oh, rough road game in Carolina. Jay Mack with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Lie News. Paul Pierce, joining us last hour. And, yeah, did you see the Cooper Flagg injury? I did. Cooper Flag is going to be the number one pick in the draft. It's a very domestic draft.

This is fascinating. He leads Duke in scoring, rebounding, steals, blocks, assists, and minutes. He's on pace to become the first freshman in Division I history. to lead his team in every major statistical category. He got hurt yesterday. No, no, he got hurt like an hour ago. Oh, an hour ago. Yesterday was it.

Oh, you guys showed me that video. It was an hour ago? It was an hour ago, yeah. Yeah, that's a bummer, because he is a great. You know, he's a little Jason Tatum. He's kind of good at everything. He's got a little Scotty Pippen. I think he's a better offensive player than Scotty Pippen,

but he's got a little Jason Tatum. He does everything well. He can score in transition. He can use his body down low. He's a really good player. They helped him off the court. They put him in a wheelchair. Paul Pierce maybe can address that.

Listen, it sounds like he's going to be held out for the ACC tournament. Well, Duke's a one-seed period. They're a one, and they're probably going to play in Raleigh, which would be the first game next Friday. So maybe in a week the ankle's better, but it did not look good at all. I'm hopeful. We need Cooper flagging the NCAA tournament. Come on.

He's the biggest job. I will tell you, because I start now watching college basketball, we could potentially have a Tom Izzo, Rick Petino, Cooper flag, and maybe like an Auburn in the tournament. Like, it could be a fascinating tournament. And this draft is not an international draft at the top. It's Rutger guys, Duke guys, Auburn guys. So it's, I mean, we could have Bruce Pearl, Patino, Tom Izzo, Duke. I mean, there's a lot of-Shire.

Well, in college basketball, generally the coach is the star. Like if Petino's in the final four, that's a story. If Izzo gets there again, now I don't think Michigan State can score its way. I mean, their leading scores 13 a game. Like, they just don't have enough. I got Jason Richardson's younger brother. Yeah, I'm sorry. They don't have any shooters.

I mean, it's, it's, Tom Isso's great, but the offense is very, very limited. All right, live in L.A., it's the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I-Hart Radio app. Hey, it's Steve Kavino. And I'm Rich David. And together we're Kavino and Rich. Fox Sports Radio.

You can catch us weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and, of course, the IHeart Radio app. Why should you listen to Covino and Rich? We talk about everything, life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world? We have a lot of fun talking about the stories behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture. Stories that, well, other shows don't seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact that we've been friends for the last 20 years and still work together, I mean, that says something, right?

So check us out. We like to get you involved, too. take your phone calls, chop it up as they say. I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio. Maybe the most interactive show on Planet Earth. Be sure to check out Covino & Rich live on Fox Sports Radio on the IHeart Radio app from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific. And if you miss any of the live show, just search Covino and Rich, wherever you get your podcast

and, of course, on social media. That's Cabino and Rich. Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to our... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey, Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. And...

Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas,

and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends.

me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves.

Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife-Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs' tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening.

at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jenchian win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface, because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Live from the Tokyo Dome, the greatest show in baseball, makes his triumphant return home as Shohei Otani and the reigning champion Dodgers open the regular season against the Cubs, the Tokyo series, Tuesday at 6 a.m. Eastern, live on Fox. You know, if it didn't disrupt our schedule, I would go to that. That would be fun. I know somebody, I know a couple that's going from LA, it's going to those games. How much fun is that? I would love to check out Tokyo.

It would be great. You know what's funny? I was thinking about this. So right now, I don't want to bore you with this, but when the regional sports networks were sold by Fox, they went into the tank. The minute falls, the greatest move, the greatest exit of a business model ever. we sold the regional networks and they just evaporated. It really hurt the bottom end teams, the smaller market teams, the Rays, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Baltimore. So the gap in Major League Baseball has never been greater between the halves and have-nots. Now, you could say that's not good for baseball. Maybe it's not.

It's great for TV networks that have baseball. I've been saying this. I don't get ESPN moving off baseball. It may not be good for the sport, but what we want, as a TV networks, a television network or what leagues want is the stars in the right places. So right now in baseball, the stars are in New York, both teams, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago just got Kyle Tucker, another Southern California team, Houston's always got talent. So the big markets have never been, the gaps never been bigger between big markets and Oakland. That's great

for TV networks. I mean, if Cooper Flagg went to Chicago in the NBA, if you went to Chicago, and he's a really good player. And then Chicago, you know, they got some money because they're best players as a kid, and they buy a couple all-star level players and make some trades. The Knicks would be good. The Celtics would be good. The Lakers would be good. Chicago would be good.

That's what in San Francisco Golden State would be good. Television networks don't care about anything because a television network doesn't have to be loyal to a league. It's got to be loyal. It's got to have about four to six teams that are really good. So if you take out the NFL where market size and brand doesn't matter, right now baseball is in an incredible. I get Bryce Harper in Sports Crazy Philly, big market, Aaron Judge in New York, Soto in New York, basically an all-star team with Freddie Freeman, Mookie Bet, Shoah O'Tonnie, and an all-star staff for the Dodgers.

Down the road, I got Machado, Tatis, Atlanta's got Acuna, Tucker goes to Chicago. Like, you look at the Dodgers roster, and I'm not, I am not joking when I say this. that is potentially, I don't even think potentially, if Sasaki's as good as advertised from Japan, Blake Snell, Tyler Glassnow, Yamamoto, Dustin May, Shohei Otani is now pitching. This could be, has the makings of the best baseball team ever. And that's not me, folks, you're looking at like eight all-stars, three on the staff minimum. So it's, that is good for networks. If you were ever going to move into baseball, it would be now.

L.A., both New York teams, Philadelphia, Atlanta Cubs, all going to be really interesting. What are you doing? That's when you want in. It's like I said, look at the NBA ratings since Jimmy Butler joined Steph Curry and Luca joined LeBron. The world, it's so good for the Knicks to be good. It's so important for the Lakers, Warriors, and Knicks to be captivating. And they all are. I don't think the Knicks can win a title, but they're a great.

watch so much fun to watch second thing is differing opinions so I asked Urban Meyer about Travis Hunter of Colorado who's going to play corner and wide receiver in the NFL that could be problematic here's what Urban Meyer said about a

kid that I mean if wasn't for quarterbacks could be the number one pick I would never say this other than that guy I'd play him both ways I would trade him I mean he I've never seen on a 160th play of the game he's blocking guys 25, 30 yards downfield.

And he, at the end of the game, he's a strong, I know it's college, and I get that, I'm sure some people say, oh, it's college, it's college, I get that. But in my lifetime, I'm not seeing a guy do that. Now, Jeff Schwartz, who spent eight years in the NFL, he doesn't like the idea of playing both ways. You have basically two playbooks, right? You have a defensive playbook that's this big,

and they're on their iPads now. it's a little bit different, but an offensive playbook this big, how do you do both at the same time? Right? You practice one day with the wide receivers and one day with the corners. I think it's easier to be a full-time corner and then say, hey, Travis, here is 10 plays on offense. Can you run them on Friday at practice or maybe you stay after for five,

10 minutes? That's how I would play it. I would say, look, you're a corner and then we'll give you 10, 15 plays in offense. You'll have to spend a lot of time in that offensive meeting room because you have to get ready to play corner in the NFL. Yeah, I think, Travis Hunter will be great at whatever his primary responsibility is. Receiver corner, he'll be great.

I do think it's tricky. I think most quarterbacks do not want their receivers occasionally showing up for practice. Like they want him there. I mean, Brady in the offseason would vacation with his receivers. Mark Sanchez would bring guys out to Southern California. That's the way quarterbacks work. I think cornerback is a lot of twitchiness and instinct. I'd rather go to offense, get him 75 minimum.

80 touches, and then occasionally some spot defense. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast?

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast.

Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. You just understood. That's how personal it got.

Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in, he's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Therapy is fantastic. But once again, it does not have a monopoly on healing. That's why I create the resources and that's why I create the community because I really just want you to have more access. On the podcast, Cultivating Her Space, Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard.

It's tough because we're suppressing our emotions and so many of us are like high achieving individuals. listen to cultivating her space on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.